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Can youth reverse Spain's curse?

It has become something a cliche in world football circles, and
an enduring source of hardship for long-suffering Spaniards: the
senior national team, loaded with talent and tipped for at least
the last four at a world finals or a EURO, will fall flat before
the final eight.

Some of the greatest minds in football literature, reportage and
general punditry have puzzled over the mystery. Why, with one of
the strongest leagues on the planet and a squad perennially loaded
with some of the best players in the world, is Spain's only
senior title of note a UEFA European Championship in 1964.

Many explanations have been offered: regionalism, politics and
club rivalries to name a few. None though ring with the voice of
complete persuasiveness, and rather than curse Spain's
seemingly endless darkness on the senior world stage, FIFA.com will
attempt to shine a light on what has been described as the greatest
collection of youth players in the country's history.

Young gunsIf Spain's seniors have had their troubles, fortunes on
the world youth and junior stages have been much better. With one
U-20 title and two final appearances and three U-17 final
appearances, Spain's young guns bask in relative glory, and a
brief glimpse at the last three sections of the FIFA U-20 and U-17
World Cups gives sharp insight into the kind of future Spain has to
look forward to.

The tenth U-17 showpiece in Finland in the summer of 2003
introduced a trio of names that now ring out in Spain, England and
across the globe too. One Cesc Fabregas, then 16, finished
tournament top scorer and best player in Spain's run to the
final. He had some help too, in the form of David (
El Guaje or 'the kid') Villa who now has over 42
goals in 70 appearances for Valencia and 13 in 23 caps for
Spain's seniors, and his elegant club mate David Silva.

By the time he had reached the U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands
two years later, Fabregas was already in Arsenal's first team
and turning heads. But then coach and Spain's youth guru Inaki
Saez wasn't sure of Cesc, who he considered a bit too slight,
saying: "Well, we have to be careful with him and not push him
too fast. He's just a little slip of a thing."

The coach's concerns were unfounded as Fabregas, now a
mainstay in the senior national team, soon stepped into Patrick
Vieira's sizeable boots at Arsenal and ranks among
England's best. Not bad for a lad of still only 20. Even with
all his achievements, he will not be well pleased to have lost out
in the quarters of Netherlands 2005 to another prodigy - Lionel
Messi and eventual champions Argentina.

Incredible Iniesta
Andres Iniesta is another young Spanish gem forged
in the fires of recent world youth competitions. The current
Barcelona star was the outstanding player in Spain's U-20 side
that roared to the final of UAE 2003. Soft spoken and humble off
the pitch, Iniesta was, and is, a giant on it. But even then, the
notice he garnered made him a little uncomfortable.

"I always had posters of my favourite footballers on my
bedroom wall," he told FIFA.com in Abu Dhabi in 2003.
"The idea that there could be kids out there with my picture
on their wall, or being recognised in the street, gives me a
strange feeling. It's beyond words."

More than holding his own alongside Ronaldinho, Deco, Henry,
Messi and Eto'o in the Barcelona first team, fame is
unavoidable for pale-faced Andres.

While the classes of '03 and '05 are already in the mix
for the senior team, currently wobbling in second place in a tight
qualifying Group F for UEFA EURO 2008, a batch of stars for the
future emerged in the youth tournaments of this year.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup played in Korea in August, saw
Barca's dazzling Bojan and another Arsenal product - Fran
Merida - help Spain to the final. And although the former remains
humble despite his more than 1000 goals at youth level and a
handful of sub's appearances for Barca's first team in the
early part of this season, U-17 coach and former Real great Juan
Santisteban sees a special player in Bojan: "He's amazing
and with tremendous potential. He is obsessed with scoring and
there's no limit to what he can achieve."

An astounding cropCould Merida be the next Fabregas for Arsenal and Spain?
"The education he is getting in England is going to serve him
well and we will be hearing his name in the future,"
Santisteban says.

Another name for Spain's future is one Diego Capel, 19,
who's roving work and speed on the left flank for the U-20s in
Canada this summer was a delight. He is currently working himself
into a starting role at UEFA Cup holders Sevilla alongside
21-year-old starlet Jesus Navas.

As greats like Raul and Morientes drift into the past, Spain can
take heart in this wily new gang whose names are already ringing
out with the irresistable tambor of youth - Iniesta, Fabregas,
Silva, Villa stand alongside Fernando Torres of Liverpool who
played at the U-17 world finals in Trinidad and in 2001, and Sergio
Ramos, 21, of Real Madrid. And with others desperate to climb the
ladder hot on their heels, it is possible that Spain's curse
may find reverse in the near future.